Tag: Good Governance Day

Good Friday holiday reinstated in Christian-majority Indian state after protests

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Good Friday holiday reinstated in Christian-majority Indian state after protests
Widespread protests have forced the government in Christian-majority Meghalaya State in north-east India to restore the Good Friday holiday. The coalition government, to which the Hindu nationalist BJP is a partner, had declared in a circular that Good Friday would be a normal “working day”, but the move was withdrawn . . . Read More

India: Catholic bishops warn against Hindu nationalism as religious hate crimes rise

  India , , , , , , , , , , ,
India: Catholic bishops warn against Hindu nationalism as religious hate crimes rise
An acknowledgement by India’s BJP-led government that there has been a rise in religion-based hate crime has coincided with a warning from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) about the dangers to the country of a Hindu-nationalist agenda. Statistics revealed in India’s parliament on 6 February confirmed a long-standing . . . Read More

India’s Christian leaders distance themselves from ruling Hindu nationalists

  India , , , , , , , , ,
India's Christian leaders distance themselves from ruling Hindu nationalists
The leaders of India’s Christian minority – 2.3 per cent of India’s 1.3 billion population – have distanced themselves from rumours of increasingly close ties with the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP. The latest rumours began following a meeting between senior Catholic Church leaders and the BJP’s national president, Amit Shah, . . . Read More

Indian Christians protest at Good Friday launch of ‘Digital India Day’

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Indian Christians protest at Good Friday launch of 'Digital India Day'
Ignoring protests from Christians, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, launched Digital India Day on 14 April – Good Friday – as part of his government’s campaign to promote widespread use of electronic products and services. India’s Christians said they felt marginalised by the move because it fell on an . . . Read More

Indian Christians frustrated by Good Governance Day ‘distraction’ at Christmas

  India , , , , , ,
Indian Christians frustrated by Good Governance Day 'distraction' at Christmas
Thousands of Santa Clauses parade through the streets of Thrissur, Kerala state, in 2014.World Watch Monitor   Church leaders have joined critics of a controversial move by the government of India’s second-most populous state to hold “Good Governance Day” observances on Christmas Day. “Holding programmes to promote Good Governance is . . . Read More

Modi’s UN Yoga Day latest example of co-incidence with Christian ‘high days and holidays’

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Modi’s UN Yoga Day latest example of co-incidence with Christian ‘high days and holidays’
Thousands in India celebrated the first International Day of Yoga, 21 JuneFB/Narendra Modi   As you may have seen, June 21 was the first-ever International Yoga Day, observed from New Delhi to New York. In yoga’s birthplace, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself led a yoga session attended by 37,000 . . . Read More

Christmas 2014 ‘evokes not joy but fears’ for India’s Christians

  India , , , , , , , , ,
Christmas 2014 'evokes not joy but fears' for India's Christians
Christmas is an occasion mostly associated with joy and celebration. But since the start of the holiday season, India’s minority religious groups of Christians and Muslims have been especially under pressure. The Indian Parliament has hardly functioned since the start of December because several opposition lawmakers have been protesting a . . . Read More